Controversial British broadcaster Piers Morgan has blasted the decision to include transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard in the 2021 Olympic squad and New Zealand's "infamously woke Government" for supporting it.
On Monday it was announced Hubbard had been selected for the NZ team for the Tokyo Olympics next month, where she will compete in the women's 87kg+ weightlifting category.
The decision will likely make the 43-year-old the first transgender sportswoman to compete at the Games.
However, the decision has sparked further discussion about transgender inclusion in sport.
In an opinion piece for the Mail Online on Tuesday Piers Morgan added his two cents to the conversation, saying if female boxer Nicola Adams was to go up against a top male boxer like Mike Tyson or Floyd Mayweather she would be "potentially signing her own death warrant".
"That's why men and women compete separately at almost every sport - because men are built more powerfully than women, enabling them to be stronger and faster. That's not me being 'sexist', it's just an unarguable biological fact."
He said Hubbard has "superior" biological advantages due to previously identifying as a man, which makes it unfair for her competitors who were born as females.
"As I've said many times, I support transgender rights to equality and fairness - but not when those rights damage women's rights to equality and fairness.
"This is unfair and unequal. And it's not 'transphobic' to say this, it's just common sense."
Morgan slammed the NZ Olympic Committee's decision to include her in the NZ weightlifting team.
"Meanwhile, New Zealand's infamously woke Government and the country's top sporting body have backed Hubbard's inclusion...
"The uncomfortable, irrefutable truth is that this decision is a disaster for women's sport."
Hubbard will be part of a five-strong weightlifting group including David Liti (men's 109kg+), Kanah Andrews-Nahu (women's -87kg), Megan Signal (women's -76kg), and Cameron McTaggart (men's -81kg).
"I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders," Hubbard said after the announcement.
"When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was advised that my sporting career had likely reached its end. But your support, your encouragement, and your aroha carried me through the darkness.
"The last 18 months has shown us all that there is strength in kinship, in community, and in working together towards a common purpose. The mana of the silver fern comes from all of you and I will wear it with pride."
However, Morgan did say he didn't blame Hubbard for her Olympic inclusion.
"It's not her fault that she's been allowed to compete in the world's greatest sporting event with such an obvious physiological advantage over her rivals."
